Welcome to the Hellmouth, Again
by Artemis Hunter
Summary: Episode 1 of my "Faith the Vampire Slayer" Virtual Series Faith and Wesley begin their stay in Sunnydale, and find themselves battling it out with a vengeance demon that is wreaking havoc on the lives of Sunnydale's helpless students. Rated M for language
1. Intro: Enter Faith

**I don't own any of the characters in this story...they all belong to the great and mighty Joss Whedon. I just threw a party and invited them all. Enjoy!**

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_"So I hear this Buffy chick bit the dust when the Master rolled into town. So what. It's my turn now. Name's Faith. Seems like the Hellmouth's been nice and active since the switch in Slayers, so my job's pretty clear. Gotta say, though, going back to high school hasn't exactly been a dream come true. But I've got people watching my back, and a Watcher who, as socially deficient as he is, knows his shit. So all those vamps better duck and cover, cuz there's a new Slayer in town..."_

**"FAITH THE VAMPIRE SLAYER"**

"FtVS" is an Alternate Whedonverse series set during the first two seasons of Buffy, portraying a much different outcome of events. At the emergence of the Master of all vampires, Buffy Summers and her friends fought valiantly against his forces. Unfortunately, the young Slayer did not survive the battle. The Master, having killed Buffy, went on a rampage through Sunnydale, but Angel, the ensouled vampire, managed to kill the ancient vampire in his fit of rage over Buffy's death. The Master had been defeated, but so had the Slayer.

Grief-stricken, the Scoobies disbanded. Rupert Giles returned to the Watcher's Council in England, while Jenny Calender resumed teaching at the high school. Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and Cordelia Chase left the business of fighting evil all together, returning to their quiet lives after the death of their friend. Angel fled Sunnydale as well, now lost in his fight against evil. Leaving the innocent of Sunnydale unprotected. Until now.

Another young girl, a high school dropout from Boston, was activated at the death of Buffy and inherited the powers of the Slayer. Faith. Her Watcher, Diana Dormer, saved her from a life of less-than mediocrity to teach her the skills needed to protect the human race from demonic creatures, only to be tragically murdered at the hands of an ancient vampire mere weeks after being assigned to the young girl. Diana's replacement, Welsey Wyndham-Price, informed her that she was to resume Buffy Summers' work in Sunnydale.

Faith and her new Watcher have since moved to the small California town, posing as an uncle and niece. Faith has returned to high school in order to keep close tabs on the supernatural goings-on near the Hellmouth. She isn't alone in her fight, either. Recently, a mysterious man calling himself The Groosalugg has been following her around on patrols, claiming to be from another dimension. As disturbingly out of touch the young man may be, Faith cannot deny that he has been an asset in battle on several occassions. Several of her classmates have accidently stumbled upon Faith's identity as the Slayer, and together, this ragtag group of teenagers has banded together to fight the forces of evil, one night at a time...

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But first, on to the Pilot Episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth...Again."


	2. Act I

**All canon characters and locations are the property of one Mister Joss Whedon. I don't own any of it.**

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_"In Every Generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the demons, vampires and forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. A Slayer inherits inhuman strength, aiding her in her fight against evil. However, if the current Slayer is killed, another is called in her place..."_

**ACT I**

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**Shady Hill Cemetery, Sunnydale**

There is a grave, relatively new, placed near the center of Shady Hill Cemetery. On the grave's cold stone face is etched a name. The name of a young school girl - small, blonde, and anything but helpless - who had died just before the last summer. Buffy Summers, born 1981, died 1997. She had survived one school year in town.

No one (well, no one in Sunnydale, anyway) would normally have thought twice about a young student mysteriously dying. Within the boundaries of this town, it was standard procedure. Every year, Sunnydale High School's yearbook had one of the largest memorial pages of any high school in the state. The small town's higher than average mortality rate was a fact of life that most just accepted as they would a higher than average temperature.

It was a fact that most turned a blind eye to. If anyone knew that this girl's "tragic drowning" had in fact been caused by the Master of all Vampires, people would have been saying some different things about Buffy Summers. They wouldn't be calling her a social outcast or a freak. If anyone knew who Buffy Summers had really been, they would have realized the full gravity of her sacrifice. She had died to save them all.

"Oh God! Please someone help!"

A young woman's voice shrieked into the night. A light fog had set over the pale blue moonlight washing over Sunnydale, California. The town hall clock had just struck two o'clock, and a full moon had set itself in directly over Shady Hill, one of twelve graveyards located within the boundaries of the small town. Not a soul could be heard or seen. The residents of Sunnydale knew how foolish it was to be outside at this time of night, alone.

Small, blonde, and quite obviously helpless, the girl sprinted across the lawn, her eyes darting behind her in a panic as three figures stalked her in the night. With her gaze still on the growling, shadows behind her, she suddenly tripped over a large tree root poking out from underneath the grass. She toppled to the ground, struggling to rise as soon as her knees had hit the soil. "Please, help!" her voice was sobbing now. She turned to look up, seeing that the three shadowy figures were racing toward her.

Scrambling to her feet, she continued her escape, to no avail. They were closing in. Just as she passed a large stone mausoleum, she felt the forceful tug of a large hand grasping the back of her t-shirt collar as she was hauled back against one of her pursuers. "Why'd you run off so fast?" The man's voice growled. The girl glanced back at the man holding her, finally noticing in the moonlight that his face was horribly disfigured. His brow jutted out menacingly from underneath freakishly died red hair, thin fangs peering out from his gaping mouth. "We're just getting' started."

She tried to scream, but her mouth was suddenly muffled by a rough hand. The other two monsters came up in front of her, their eyes glowing yellow with a fierce hunger. She gasped into her attacker's palm, her knuckles turning white as she clawed against his inhuman strength. But the demon only gripped harder, squeezing the life out of the young girl as he bared his fangs, his mouth watering as he dipped his head lower to pierce the helpless girl's neck.

In a whirr of air rushing past the attackers head, a small projectile flew past and struck one of his companions square in the chest. Before the realization came to the vampire that it was a wooden stake, he was destroyed, bursting into a cloud of dust. The first creature kept its hold firmly on the young helpless girl, spinning around to face the attacker who had just murdered one of his partners. Through the shadows off to the side of the mausoleum, a dark-haired young woman stepped out into the moonlight. Her doe-brown eyes flashed with anticipation as she strode towards them boldly.

"Aw, some girls get to have all the fun," she complained with mock disappointment, her smartass smirk shining through. The two remaining vampires growled low at her, a vicious and hungry smile creeping over their features. Her glowing expression remained, however; she was amused that they considered her another meal. "And what's with the fire-top?" she shot off to the neon-red-headed vampire with a wince, "That supposed to be intimidating or something? Cuz, you look like Raggedy Andy."

Despite the demons' annoyed and obviously hungry snarls, the girl held her ground, staring down the creature as if the horrific scene before her were completely harmless. There was no hint of fear in her expression. She subtly rocked on the balls of her feet, which were clad in heavy leather combat boots. Glancing at the free handed vampire, she winked at him. "Wanna dance, baby?" Kissing the air in his direction, she goaded him to come closer.

"Stupid girl," he snarled under his breath. His red-haired companion threw their young victim to the ground, and the two dashed right at the dark-haired girl, fangs bared and glistening in the moonlight. Grabbing the first's hand, which was reaching for her, the girl spun him around, thrusting her knee into his back and knocking him onto his stomach...

_He peered out at the girl from behind a large gathering of bushes off in the distance. The stranger had been watching her for some time. Her moves, her strengths, her instincts. This deceptively fragile looking being was in fact built for combat. But in the end, she was alone. Easy to prey upon. Prone to weakness..._

The redheaded vampire's eyes widened as he was forcibly thrown against a wall of the mausoleum. Following in step, the girl grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him several inches off of the ground, and would have been choking him if the demon had needed to breathe. "Slayer," the vampire hissed out venomously.

The girl smiled at his recognition, pulling him off the wall and hurling him into an adjacent grave. She sauntered towards him, leaning down at the spot where her first kill had been and picking up the stake now resting on the grass. "No shit, Sherlock," she snapped back caustically, closing the gap between them seconds later.

The vampire backed off, tripping suddenly over a potted bouquet of flowers resting on the ground. His companion took the opportunity to leap up behind the girl, wrapping his arms around her torso as he held her still. But she wasn't stalled for long; pulling her arm forward, she thrust back with her elbow, striking the creature in the groin. A pained wince from behind the girl immediately signaled her to tear away from the vampire's grasp.

Spinning around to face her attacker, now doubled over, she cocked her hand back, sending a closed fist straight into his jaw. The demon was knocked into the air, flying across the lawn and into the side of a large tower-like gravestone. The stone struck his spine, and the vampire plummeted to the ground with a thud.

_Watching her fight off the vampires, he remained crouched and hidden in the shadows. She would handle these lesser demons with little difficulty. He had seen her lay waste to much worse creatures before._

The dark haired Slayer strode towards the fallen vampire against the grave, stake brandished tightly in her hand. She suddenly felt a pressure on her leg as she was pulled to the ground by the red-haired vampire crawling across the grass behind her. She grunted as she hit the ground hard, crawling away with a kick to the demon's face. She struggled to get up, but was spun around onto her back as the vampire leapt on top of her. He grabbed the girl's wrists, pressing her hands down and trapping her stake against the dirt.

She gritted her teeth as she struggled against the creature, finally getting the strength to throw him off balance and flip them over. Now straddling him, she lifted her stake and brought it down to pierce the vampire's heart. In seconds, he burst into a cloud of dust as he howled in agony.

Rising to stand, she wiped her hands against her dark blue denim jeans, groaning quietly under her breath. "Good thing this shit washes out," she muttered in frustration, lifting her gaze to find the remaining vampire. Through the darkness, she caught movement as she saw him lifting himself to his feet and making a run for it. She watched the vampire darting into the distance with a thin smirk. "They never learn..."

Dipping underneath her jacket, she pulled out her extra stake, its smooth carved surface shining in the moonlight. Her fingers grasped the pointed end, and she held it back past her head, waiting for her moment. The vampire was at least thirty feet away from her when she let the stake loose, sending it flying through the air. There was a moment silence as it sailed through the air, finally striking the vampire in the back, penetrating his chest.

The Slayer turned around to find the blonde girl still crouched behind a tomb, watching the battle unfold. Coughing to regain a calm demeanor, the brunette paced herself as she walked over to the former prey. The Slayer extended her hand for the girl as she tried to put on her most concerned looking expression. "Hey, you ok?" The girl crouched on the ground, cowering in shock of what had just transpired. The blonde didn't answer as she glanced around the now vacant cemetery, her chest heaving as she shivered, her eyes wide in horror and confusion.

"You're fine now," the Slayer tried to reassure the blonde, "But seriously, what the hell were you doing out..." Interrupting her savior's attempt at comforting her, the young blonde girl scrambled to her feet with a gasp, breaking out into a dead sprint as she ran back home and away from the chaos of the night.

With an insulted glare, she watched as the girl dashed out of the cemetery without a second glance. "No need to thank me or anything!" the Slayer called at her sarcastically as silence blanketed the cemetery. She took a few steps to the side, her pulse slowing as her adrenaline was no longer being fed by the fight. "Sure feels great to help people," she muttered resentfully to herself, dragging her feet over towards the large mausoleum.

_He crouched in utter silence, watching as the dark-haired champion sighed off in the distance. There was no need to make himself known yet. The stranger escaped off into the shadows, leaving the young girl to her own devices. He would get the opportunity to examine this warrior closer at a later date..._

A bit disappointed with the direction of the evening, the Slayer leaned against a nearby tombstone, and glanced down at her stake, studying it absentmindedly. Abruptly, a rustling came from beside her, and with no more warning, another vampire leapt up from behind another grave, flashing his fangs in rage.

Without even turning to face the demon, she flung the stake across her chest at him, directly hitting its mark deep within his heart. She only gave the creature the courtesy of a single fleeting look before rolling her eyes and pushing off from the mausoleum wall. With a pained howl, the vampire crumbled into a pile of dust as Faith passed him with a look of utter boredom wrought on her features. "Whatever..."

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**The next morning...**

It was a hot Wednesday afternoon, and the halls of Sunnydale High School were bustling with activity. Not even halfway through the school day, and there was already a commotion among the students. Several groups were gathered around the courtyard as news traveled about the fight that had just gone on in one of the main hallways between a recent transfer student and Jack Bennett, a young jock and one of the more popular boys in the student body.

Rumors flew around the students as the witnessed reports became more outlandish; some said that Jack had been hitting on the girl, and her boyfriend had punched him in the face. Others insisted that the boyfriend had a couple friends with him. Some were even suggesting that the girl had sent Jack to the nurse's office all by herself. Most weren't buying that one.

"That bitch broke my nose!"

Down the hall, a couple of girls stood around the doorway to the nurse's office, watching as Jack squirmed on a cold black stool, kicking and screaming like a six year old. The nurse dabbed a gauze pad against his face to wipe off the newly dried blood, but Jack swiped it from the older woman's hand, having a veritable freak out from all the attention. "That chick better be getting arrested right now, or I swear to God...Ow!" he scowled as he pressed the tender spot on his rapidly swelling nose.

Faith Lehane sat in one of the chairs facing the desk of Principal Snyder. The short, balding administrator paced behind the desk, occasionally casting a vulture-like eye at the young woman. "Well I must say, Miss Lehane," he muttered, his hands clamped behind his back. "This has to be the most times a student has been called down into my office in any single semester."

Faith didn't respond right away. She'd be damned if she let Snyder psych her out. This wasn't the first time they'd butted heads. But she'd gotten her act down in this little dance of theirs. Faith's hand, draped over the side of the armrest out of the Snyder's view, flexed, her knuckles cracking silently. There was no bruising at all; she was stretching more out of restlessness rather than from any pain.

"Yeah well, I like to make an impression." She smirked softly, reclining calmly back into her chair.

Snyder was unimpressed, ceasing his pacing as he narrowed his eyes at her. "And quite the impression it is." There was a long, tense silence as Faith watched the principal circle around his desk like a predator. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at the ridiculous show that the man was putting on. Snyder coughed, readjusting his tie and tightening his hands together.

"I've been an administrator for twenty-odd years now, Miss Lehane." Snyder's eyes studied his own office with pride. "Don't for a second think that you're a special case. I've seen plenty of students run through here who were exactly like you."

She stifled a laugh. "Really," Faith responded incredulously. The young girl fought a grin. This man was a joke; trying to flex his principal muscles with her to assert his authority.

Snyder caught her sarcasm, his patronizing tone getting more powerful. "You want to prove that I know nothing. That I have no authority here." Stepping to the side of his desk, the man crossed his arms over his chest. "But what you fail to realize is that you are in my domain."

"Yes sir," Faith muttered with a chuckle, lifting her hand in a mock salute.

At that point, Snyder just snapped, clamping a hand onto the arm of her chair and cutting off the girl's smartass remark. "Your behavior has been unacceptable! Either you get your act together or..."

"Why don't you go throw your threats at the human nosebleed downstairs?" Faith groaned, "He's the one that started it."

He sneered, not terribly convinced of Faith's claim, as he leaned against the desk in front of her seat. "Jack Bennett is prominent member of the student council and one of the most successful football captains in Sunnydale High history..."

"I don't care who the hell he is," she shot back, "That asshole tried to feel me up in English class."

Ignoring her curse, Snyder scoffed at Faith's accusation with a condescending smirk. "I think you might be over-exaggerating just a bit..."

_"Twice."_

There was a pause, and the small arrogant man coughed awkwardly, readjusting in his seat as he tried to regain the upper hand in the conversation. His gaze met hers head-on.

"All the same, Faith, I think you are taking this precarious position you are in far too lightly." Snyder turned in his seat, leaning back nonchalantly as he grabbed Faith's file off of the desktop. "Once more misstep, and you are going to end up like all those other teenagers who thought they were above the law: in jail. And of course, no longer a student at this school."

He leaned over her chair, a sneering grin lining up directly with Faith's ear. "In other words, a failure. Though I'm sure that's not much of a stretch for some of us."

Faith kept her eyes facing forward, her teeth clenched shut.

"Do you understand?" Snyder's smirk grew as she remained stone cold silent.

In her frustration, Faith glanced over at the window off to the side of the principal's office. Entering the waiting room was a tall gangly man, manically searching around for the young woman. At the familiar sight of him, Faith mentally groaned.

Wesley Wyndham-Price, dressed in his typical stuffy black suit, stepped in. The tall but rather clumsy school librarian made eye contact with Faith, offering his usual judgmental eye. Faith felt herself wanting to shrink into her seat for the first time that afternoon. No doubt she would have quite a fun evening planned now.

Snyder's nasally voice pierced through her thoughts. "I said, do we have an understanding?"

After another moment of silence, Faith turned away from the window to look up at Snyder, a wide and utterly fake smile gracing her features. "Yes, sir, Principal Snyder," she said pleasantly, "We have a complete understanding."

"Good." Snyder nodded with satisfaction, though he gave her an eagle-eye expression that easily said "I'll be watching you.' He backed away from Faith, watching as she stood up from her seat and marched out the door.

Passing through the doorway, she lugged her backpack over her shoulder and strolled up to the British librarian. "Hiya, Uncle Wes," she chimed in with an obnoxiously cheerful smile. Wesley wasn't amused, placing a hand on Faith's shoulder as he prepared to lead her out of the office.

"Mr. Price," Snyder spoke up from behind them. The two turned around, seeing the principal standing in the doorway, on the verge of tapping his foot in impatience.

"Go back to the library and meet me there," Wesley ordered quietly.

"Aw," Faith pouted, feeling the tension build as Snyder was forced to wait on Wesley. "Can't I watch?"

"Go!" he ordered forcefully. With a glare, Faith spun on her heel, storming out of the main office and back into the hallway. "And no stopping to brag about this, either," Wesley called after her.

* * *

Devon Macliesh, lead singer of the self-proclaimed local rock phenomena Dingoes Ate My Baby, sat on the balcony, listening intently to one girl's account of the brawl only minutes earlier. He stretched with a yawn, not believing a word of what the blonde was saying. The stories had obviously been blown out of proportion pretty quick: apparently a new girl in school had taken down Jack Bennett in a scuffle in the main hallway.

Devon smirked at the absurdity of it. Jack was a good 250 pounds, and a lineman on the school's football team. Sure, the guy was an idiot, but the last thing that anyone thought could happen was him getting beaten up by a girl. It was ridiculous. Robbie, the young drummer of the Dingoes, sprinted over to his band mate with a lit up grin. The boy was a good year younger than the other guys in the band, and the newest member at that. The last drummer they'd had got into a little legal trouble at his last concert; needless to say, since then they'd made a distinct effort to keep band members strictly limited to users rather than distributors of certain agriculture.

"Dev, you gotta see this," the blonde boy insisted, "Some guy caught the fight on tape!" Curious now, Devon jumped off the wall and followed Robbie over to where a group was congregating around a kid sitting with the video camera.

Leaning over the blonde boy's shoulder, Devon watched the tiny screen on the camcorder. The fight was just brewing; Jack and the new girl were standing face to face in front of a row of lockers. She was hot, that much was obvious. Tall, dark-haired, not afraid to show a little skin. He could definitely see himself getting closer to that. But Devon was caught off guard by her reaction to Jack's advances. Before the boy was able to get a word in edge-wise, she had grabbed his wrist, spinning him around and trapping his arm forcibly behind his back. Jack groaned in pain, struggling against her.

Group winces and howls were audible as the fight on the tiny screen continued. Suddenly, the girl punched Jack in the face, knocking him straight into the lockers. The jeers of the kids watching the tape faded into awed silence as the image of Jack finally fell to the ground, doubled over in pain as he held his face in his hands.

"God, that is hot," Devon's voice faded into a smirk.

Pushing her way through the hallway, Faith slowly headed towards the library as Wesley had insisted upon her. There was no getting around it: Faith was pissed as all hell, but mostly just because Wes was being a dick. Nothing unusual about that. She couldn't deny that Snyder had hit a little too close to home, though. Hadn't been the first time that someone had gotten on her case for being a bit of a delinquent.

Hadn't been the first time she'd been called a failure, either. Gritting her teeth softly, she stepped out of the hallway and into the open courtyard.

"Faith!"

She turned around to see who had called her name, coming face to face with a young woman, cradling a small stack of books in her arms.

"Hi," she said partially out of breath. "I'm Anya. We're in third period English together?"

There was an awkward silence as Faith looked the girl up and down. "Oh, yeah," she nodded suddenly with a weak smile. She had no idea who this girl was. "Hi." For a split second, she eyed the newcomer suspiciously and continued to stride down the hall. Shifting her pace, Anya followed Faith as she walked off.

"So are you ok? I heard about the fight. All sorts of crazy stories flying around about it, though. What really happened?"

Faith shrugged, not really minding that this girl was asking for details. Wes wanted her to keep hush-hush about the whole thing, but taking a bastard of a guy like Jack down was a highlight to her day. "Let's just say, he'll be thinking twice before messing with any more girls for a while."

"Boys are stooges." Anya shook her head, laughing quietly as she tried to get a response out of the dark haired girl. None came; Faith simply continued to walk down the hallway without much more to say. "Well I saw what Jack did in class," she offered eagerly. "I think that asshole deserves what he got."

"You're the only one," Faith grumbled, kicking a piece of crumpled paper with the toe of her boot as they turned a corner. In all honesty, Faith found herself not really in the mood to chat about reactions to the fight. She actually agreed with Wesley on that point.

"Don't worry about what those people think."

"My motto," Faith breathed out smugly, shoving the door open to the courtyard.

* * *

Devon had spent the majority of his lunch period out in the courtyard with the rest of the rabble, passing on the exceedingly farfetched story about the new girl. The stories had died down, mostly, but the legend wasn't going away any day soon. However, the day had passed with no further incident, but no sight of either side of the fight, either.

At that moment, only three fourths of the Dingoes sat in the crowd. Devon and Robbie sat slouching on the side of the wall, while the band's bassist, Cliff Donovan, who seemed to hold himself to an inflated intellectual standard, was busy reading a philosophical novel by Friedrich Nietzsche as he leaned his back up against the wall that Devon had perched himself on.

Devon found his gaze centered on the lower back of a slinky blonde teacher who had just passed his view, when Robbie tapped him on the shoulder insistently.

"Devon! It's the chick! Over there!" The boy's head shot up to see Faith walking down the path across the courtyard with another girl.

"The redhead ain't too bad either," Cliff commented below Devon, glancing up from the page he was skimming. But the singer wasn't swayed from his initial fixation.

"Man, I think I'm in love." He stared dreamy-eyed at Faith.

"Really..." Cliff said flatly from his position against the wall, dropping the book to one side as they watched the two girls saunter towards their direction. A brow lifted as he stared at the back of Devon's head. "So...you're gonna nail her, then."

"You bet your ass I am." Devon hopped off the wall, steadily making his way toward the two girls, whose path was drawing and closer and closer to the center of the courtyard.

"Jackass," Cliff stared back down at the book he was reading.

"What are you gonna do?" Robbie asked Devon, unable to deny that he was at least a bit curious.

"Watch and learn from a master." He patted Robbie on the back as he positioned himself directly in the girl's path.

"Ladies..." he grinned lewdly, lifting his arms towards them dramatically. Before he got another word in, Anya and Faith split apart, making their opposite ways around the boisterous young man, meeting back together several feet behind him. Devon's smile thinned as he watched them walk away without a second glance at him. He gritted his teeth as he heard Cliff bursting out into laughter behind him.

* * *

"Men," Anya groaned when they were out of earshot of the boy. "Don't you just wish that you could get even with Jack or something?"

Faith scoffed. "I think I got that covered, thanks."

"Of course! I know you effectively kicked his ass, but I mean...you know..." Faith watched her curiously, not quite catching her train of thought. "You mean you never even thought about it?"

She shook her head with a frown. "Thought about what?"

"Oh, I don't know...wishing some kind of fiery doom on him," Anya waved over-dramatically, with a half-hearted laugh. "You know, just for fun?"

"Can't say I have..." Faith studied the Anya curiously, as if staring would somehow offer insight into the girl's mental state. After a few moments, she returned to her walk, leaving Anya behind.

The auburn-haired young woman hurriedly shuffled next to Faith once more. "I'm not saying that you have, of course, but come on, if you could...wish for something to happen to him, I mean...what would you?"

"Why are you pushing this?" Faith chuckled, a bit amused now as she spun around the corner towards the library.

"I'm not," she insisted, her tone suddenly very innocent, if not a little defensive.

"Alright then," Faith shot back, grabbing the door handle. "I'm out. I'll talk to you later..." her voice faded, waiting for the other girl to finish her sentence.

"...Anya," she offered deadpanned.

"Right," Faith pointed back at her vaguely. "Anya." Throwing the door open, she leaned against it as she waved goodbye to her. "I'll see you around."

Anya offered the girl a cheerful smile. "Ok, I'll see you..." Faith entered the library without another word.

"...later."

Anya's smile faded, her eyes staring at the door.

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To be continued, please Read and Review!


	3. Act II

**All canon characters and locations are the property of one Mister Joss Whedon. I don't own any of it.**

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**ACT II**

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The rest of Faith's afternoon was rather boring. Secluded in the school library, she waited impatiently for Wesley to show up and ground her or some shit, passing the time by rifling through his office drawers for anything of interest or value. Finding nothing worthwhile, except a twenty in his jacket pocket hanging on the wall, she now sat with her legs propped up on the center table as she reclined precariously on the back two legs of her chair. With a random magazine balanced on her lap, she tediously flipped through the pages while the headphones of her CD player blared music into her ears, drowning out all outside noise. She nodded her head slightly to the beat of the indie rock song, skimming the titles and photos on each page of the magazine before flipping to the next.

Suddenly, a pair of hands tugged the headset away from her ears and left them to drop around her neck. "Shit, what?" she snapped over her shoulder. Her eyes met Wesley's, who didn't seem all that amused, and she lost most of the attitude. "...sorry."

"You know, I really enjoyed being lectured by Principal Snyder," Wesley commented with a sarcastic drone, stepping over to the library's front desk.

Returning her attention to her magazine, Faith smirked. "It's in my top ten." She reached into the bag of potato chips out in front of her on the table. Grabbing another handful, she slowly tossed the chips into her mouth one by one.

"This is not a joking matter," the Brit scolded her. "I swear, if you were really my niece, I'd..."

"You'd what?" She smirked with a challenging gleam in her eye. "For the record, that cover was your idea, not mine." Faith pointed at him with the magazine, which she'd rolled up in her hands. She quickly flung it back open on her lap, studying it as if it were a textbook to avoid this conversation. "As if anyone would actually buy that we were related," she added casually.

"I had to battle with Snyder to get you out of detention, Faith," Wesley revealed, suddenly proud of the fact that he had some guilt leverage on her.

"Little troll."

"All the same," Wesley continued, not outright disagreeing with her about the principal. "God knows you can't afford to lose anymore time for schoolwork and your responsibilities as the Slayer...anymore than you've already volunteered to," he noticed.

She shrugged as she reclined, stretching her arms high into the air with a groan. "Girl's gotta unwind. Wouldn't wanna end up like you, now would I?"

Wesley was not as amused. "You're going to go directly home after the final bell...no fraternizing with any classmates."

Faith wretched at the very idea, shifting her feet as they balanced on the tabletop. "Seriously, the grease-bags here? I wouldn't touch 'em, no worries."

Wesley narrowed his eyes at her, noticing that she'd obviously mistaken his meaning. "Finish every piece of homework you have before I get home," he ordered sharply.

Faith glanced at her hand, scratching at a random splotch on her thumb absentmindedly. With a glare, he moved around to stand in front of where she was sitting. He reached a hand out, pushing her legs off the table. Faith's feet hit the floor with a startling thud. She glared up at him in shock.

"And then you are going to patrol for the rest of the evening. Is that understood?" He asked.

"Fine!" she shrilled, raising her hand defensively. She glanced back at her magazine. "Geez..."

* * *

Faith never left the dance floor for the first two hours that she was at the Bronze that night. The dark, smoky club, usually reserved for the older high school and college crowds, was bustling with activity considering it was a Wednesday evening. Wedged between two or three guys - Faith hadn't bothered counting - she wore a huge grin, eyes drifting closed as she let the pulsating music wash over her. The DJ had been playing a pretty good set since the Dingoes Ate My Baby show about an hour earlier.

Finally resigning to the fact that a bead of sweat had broken out over her forehead, Faith writhed out from between the boys, pushing her way out of the sea of people as she reached the edge of the crowd. Making her way over to the bar, she leaned across the counter, tapping with her hand to get the barkeep's attention.

"Water?" she called out over the blaring noise. The man nodded, reaching beneath the counter in front of him and tossing her a plastic bottle. Faith cracked it open, taking a long chug.

"Hey there, sweet thing."

She spun around, noticing a boy, not much older than her, standing right beside her, leering. Faith put her water down to study him for a moment. He was kinda cute, but the outfit definitely left something to be desired. Torn, pressure-washed jeans and a black Member's Only jacket, which only succeeded in making his pasty complexion look even paler.

He must not have noticed the patronizing look she was giving him, since he merely leaned on the counter coolly. "Wanna dance?" he asked, taking a step closer as he looked her up and down as well.

Faith smirked despite herself, setting the half-empty bottle on the counter. He would do...

* * *

Meanwhile Devon and the rest of the Dingoes had finished packing up their gear into the back of the lead singer's van before making their way back inside the Bronze. For years, there had been this unwritten rule that if the band played a good show, they would get a complimentary round of drinks. Now, Dingoes Ate My Baby may not have been the greatest musical act technically speaking - their soft spoken lead guitarist Oz had admitted on several occasion to only knowing two three chords in all - but what the band lacked in skill, they more than made up for with enthusiasm, a cult-like following, and the obligatory cool points which went hand-in-hand with being in a rock band.

And besides, with his ego still a bit bruised from that afternoon, Devon wasn't about to pass up free drinks. Nodding to the bartender, he was handed a plastic red cup of beer, which he downed rather quickly. Oz waved his hand at the man behind the counter, refusing the beer, and merely took a spot against a pillar next to the bar. Robbie came up with a smile, waiting excitedly for his drink.

"Sorry, kid," the bartender said as he handed the boy a blue cup instead. Cliff grabbed a red drink and smirked down at Robbie, who was now frowning down into his soda. The bassist took a long sip before passing him to stand by Devon.

"What's the matter, man?" Cliff asked casually, not caring all that much about his band mate's sour mood, to be honest.

The singer was staring coldly into the crowd reformed around the stage since their set had finished, his eye narrowing bitterly. "This is bullshit."

"What do you mean?" Oz called from the corner, glancing out in the direction Devon was facing. Robbie joined the three in gazing out over the crowd, catching a glimpse of the all-too noticeable Faith dancing with a boy who looked like he'd just been hurled up by the 80s.

"That chick should be with me right now!" Devon flew an arm out angrily as he motioned towards the pair dancing. His eyes returned to Faith, who he'd been watching with great enthusiasm until he'd realized that she was jonesing on another guy.

Cliff's expression went slack as he tried to wrap his head around the boy's sudden annoyance. "And by 'with you', you of course mean that she should have been waiting for you backstage after the show, and that right about now, you should be off in some seedy hotel room having crazy hot sex with her?"

"Exactly, man!" Devon whined, thudding his elbows back against the bar. "I mean, look at her. She's fierce. And then look at the spaz she's dancing with."

They all took a moment to study the boy in question. It was just...sad, really. And Faith looked as if she was having the time of her life dancing with the guy, too.

Oz, in one of his few but enlightened moments of more-than-two-word sentences, spoke up. "I know it may be a difficult, dare I say impossible concept to grasp, but did you ever consider that maybe the girl's just not interested?"

"Yeah, maybe you're not her type," Robbie chimed in from behind them, sipping his soda with resignation.

"I'm the lead singer of a rock band, Rob, I'm every girl's fuckin' type," Devon growled, turning back around as he saw the boy leading Faith out of the crowd and towards the entrance of the club. The singer smiled darkly. This was his chance. "Nah, this chick just needs a little eye opener on who the real man is."

Cliff rolled his eyes as he caught the look in Devon's eyes, his voice completely deadpanned. "You go fight for your girl, you manly brute, you."

Slamming down his drink, Devon broke off from his band mates, wandering away a few steps as he craned his neck to keep a view on the couple leaving.

Cliff watched him with disbelief. "Dude, I was joking." Devon didn't respond, still watching them as he took another step towards the door. "She's walkin' out of here with another guy!"

Finally, the boy turned around to walk backwards, his eyebrow quirked. "So?"

"So, you're just gonna take her from him?"

"Why not? You think she'd pick him over me?"

At that, Cliff decided that he wasn't going to argue with Devon on the principles of his 'hotness'. He leaned against the counter, taking another drink of his beer. "Whatever, man You're nuts."

A smug grin grew over Devon's lips. "Sure I'm nuts, but I'm gonna go get some tonight." He waved to his band, now walking completely away from them as he chased after the girl. "See you around."

Robbie watched the scene in fascination, Devon's determination never ceasing to amaze the younger boy. Cliff scoffed, spinning back around to rest his elbows on the bar. "Yeah, I'm sure he's gonna get something..."

* * *

Moments later, Devon blasted out of the front doors, his eyes darting around to find his quarry. It had became late enough that the alley beside the Bronze had emptied out, leaving the pathway dark and silent. Devon's head shot around to face the dumpsters several yards away as he heard a rustling coming from behind them. A noticeably female chuckle broke the stillness, and he glared. That was it...

Slowly creeping forward, Devon quietly made his way over to the large dumpsters blocking his view. He stood behind the metal containers, listening for his moment to jump out and stall the asshole who was putting the moves on the girl he'd seen first. It was just then that he thought he noticed a distinct change in the tone of the boy's voice. It got...deeper...Wait, was that a growl? A little confused, he leaned in against the side of the dumpster to listen in.

"Slayer..." the male voice snarled on the other side of the metal bin. A loud smack resonated in the emptied alleyway, and something suddenly collided with the dumpster, shoving it into Devon's face and sending the boy hurtling to the ground. Thrown to the damp concrete below, he glanced up with a glare.

"What the fuck?" he finally said out loud, stumbling to his feet. The sounds of struggle continued, speeding the singer's pace as he hurried to stand and run around the side of the dumpster to see what was going on.

He caught the final glimpse of the boy dealing a hefty punch to Faith's face, sending her barreling into the wall behind her.

"Hey!" Devon snapped, viciously leaping at the other young man in her defense. Damned if he was gonna let some asshole smack up a girl.

Devon reached out, hauling his opponent up to his feet by his Member's Only jacket. With a snarl, the boy whipped his head around, bearing a set of glistening fang at the would-be attacker.

"Holy shit!" Devon's eyes widened.

Suddenly, the boy leapt at Devon, latching onto his shirt and shoving him against the dumpster. He leaned in closer to the young singer's face, his grotesque face now shining in the pale alleyway lights.

Several feet away, Faith rolled onto her hands, pushing herself back to her feet. Watching the disruption that Devon had caused, she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Great," she muttered to herself, wiping herself off and strolling over to the two boys. Grabbing her dance partner by the collar, she tore him away from Devon.

"Oh come on baby," she growled with a smirk, "Don't flake on me now." Faith shoved the vampire against the wall, grinning close to his face. "Fun's just starting."

Devon groaned to his knees, glancing up at Faith and the other guy with a clueless determination. Scrambling up, he ran head first into the other young man, knocking Faith back once more. Cocking his arm back at the ready, Devon threw a punch at his face, only to have his own wrist snatched and pulled over his head. He howled in pain as he was spun around, the vampire thrusting his arm up in an unnatural direction.

The snap that rang out, along with Devon's scream, set off Faith's immediate reaction. Reaching down to the crating next to the dumpsters, she thrust her boot down into the plywood, cracking off a rung and picking up the splintered-off piece of wood.

Faith grabbed the back of the vampire's jacket, dragging him off of Devon and throwing him up against the dumpster. Pulling back she plunged the stake deep into the boy's chest, piercing his heart. With a howl, his body suddenly began to burst into a cloud of dust.

Devon collapsed onto the ground, cradling his arm as he lay on his back. He groaned loudly, not believing just how strong that guy had been.

It was then that he realized what had just gone down in front of him. "Okay, what the fuck just happened?" he snapped, rolling onto his back as he stared up at Faith.

She stared down at the stake in her hand, loosening her grip and letting it drop to the pavement. "You were almost eaten alive," she stated casually, glancing over at the injured boy.

"Right..." Devon clawed around at the pavement, trying to get his bearings as he grunted to his feet. "And, uh... what the fuck was that?" He stared down at the spot where the other young man had been standing, now merely a pile of ash on the cold wet asphalt.

Faith didn't seem at all phased by the incident, and was now wiping off her sleeves, straightening out her shirt which had been slightly wrinkled. "A vampire."

Devon nodded vaguely. "Oh." Suddenly, the pangs of sharp agony shot up through his arm, and he cradled it babyishly. "Ow!" He whined to himself, glancing back to Faith, only to find her wandering off from him. He took a step towards her, still holding onto his arm painfully. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Why do you care?" she called back over her shoulder, not stopping. That had been a bit too much mixing of business with fun for one night, and she wanted to move on to patrolling now that she'd had a kill in her system.

"You can't just leave me here! My arm's broken!"

Faith glared hard at Devon, just knowing that she was going to regret this. "Fine," she mumbled, snatching at the young singer's good arm and tugging him along beside her. "Where's your car..."

"Over there," he muttered quietly, pointing lazily into the distance as Faith continued to pull him along, "Ow!" he grimaced, though he was not quite ready to fight the girl on the matter, "Jesus Christ, you're like the fucking Hulk..." But Faith had already begun ignoring him.

* * *

The night was growing even later as Anya Jenkins strolled down the darkened and slowly emptying downtown streets of Sunnydale. On her way to her home, a small apartment that she had rented temporarily, the young girl tried her best to ignore the pale masses of people around her. She had had her fill of them for the day.

Turning down a particularly vacant street, Anya suddenly became aware of a low groaning sound coming from down an alleyway beside her. When a bit of rustling could be heard, Anya curiously turned into the dark alley to investigate. She noticed a shadow on the ground, writhing quietly. She inched closer, glancing around cautiously as she walked deeper into the alley.

"Help...me...please..." a fading voice rasped from the shadow, a hand visibly lifting up to her.

As she reached the source, she detected more movement than just one person. In the light of the streetlamps back in the distance, Anya suddenly saw a man, lying on the ground and groaning in agony, surrounded by a trio of large, mangy wild dogs. The pack hovered over him aggressively. She scooted closer with more than a little distaste, suddenly realizing that there was a gaping wound across his chest and stomach, and his organs were pouring forth from the hole in his body as blood pooled around him.

"My God..." Anya muttered eyes wide as she studied the scene in shock.

From the corner of the shadows, a woman stepped forward, her face veiled by a head of dark curly locks. As she moved closer to Anya, her terrifying skinless face, contorted with exposed veins, was suddenly exposed in the dim light of the alleyway. The demon lifted her hands up dramatically, the faintest hint of electricity coursing around her fingers.

"What mortal dares to disturb the vengeance exacted by Halfrek, guardian of lost children?" she bellowed with an inhumanly booming voice, glaring at the girl menacingly.

Anya turned to face the demonic woman, her expression having faded into veiled admiration. "Live eviscerations? You've really outdone yourself this time, Hallie."

Almost immediately, Halfrek dropped her hands down, the blue lightening gone from her fingertips. "Anyanka?" she called with a decidedly human, cheerful tone, "Goodness, I didn't recognize you like that."

"The limits of this generations fashion trends," Anya murmured with some irritation, circling the trio of dogs casually. "Though I can't really complain; Humans have certainly had more than their share of mistakes."

"Oh my yes," Halfrek chuckled, relaxing her stance considerably. "Don't get me started on corsets."

As the disgusting sounds of live feeding continued in the background, Anya glance down at the man in boredom. "Are you almost finished here?"

Halfrek shrugged, crossing her arms. "Just about." As she watched Anya continue to stare, she grew curious. "Something wrong?"

"Wondering about the dogs, but it's a nice touch. A classic, really."

Halfrek huffed, striding around Anya with pride as she glared at the victim on the ground. "Oh, you wouldn't believe the nerve of this man. Buys a vicious Doberman pinscher and lets it roam around his eleven year old step-daughter, and then doesn't take any action when the dog bites the poor dear. Sent her to intensive care."

She stepped up to the writhing corpse, staring down at him indifferently. Her head leaned to one side, she sighed. "And what does he do? Goes out to a strip club instead of visiting her in the hospital."

"Men are typically pond-scum, you shouldn't be surprised."

"Yes yes," Halfrek responded with a wave of her hand to silence Anya. Stepping towards the redhead, the demon's face transformed into a beautiful human visage, and she threw a delicate arm around her friend's shoulders. "Coffee? My treat!"

She led Anya out of the alleyway, all the while reveling in the weakening moans of agony and death emanating from the eviscerated man behind them...

* * *

Speeding down the streets, Faith gripped the wheel of Devon's garish zebra-striped van. The thing was a death trap; beer cans in the back, a small mattress that was probably home to several believed-to-be extinct species of disease, and a number of small bags of food which should have been incinerated months ago if health codes had any say in the matter. Though at the moment, Faith was more focused on the fact that she'd only driven a manual car once in her life, and that Devon's van just happened to be made before 1970.

"Who the fuck drives a stick shift anymore?" she growled, shoving the bar forward into 3rd gear for the third time.

"Careful!" The singer yelled back at her from the passenger's side, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor as he waited for his inevitable death, either by blood loss or being driving into a ditch. "Took me years to buy this thing!"

"Apparently about 30," she growled back at him, her knuckles white around the steering wheel as she was forced to squint into the darkness, lit only a few inches ahead of them by his 60 watt headlights.

Devon leaned back in his seat, staring up at the rusting ceiling of his pride and joy. "Too much weed before the show, man. I swear..." he muttered, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

"What are you bitching about..." Faith never took her eyes from the yellow line at the center of the road.

He lifted his head lazily to look over at the girl and rubbed at his eyes. "This is like, a bad trip. Some guy goes all wonky and tries to eat me, you stab him in the heart with a stick, and then he bursts into a dust cloud. That kinda shit doesn't happen unless you're seriously chemically altered."

"That was all real, Rambo. Including that part where you squealed like a woman," she offered bluntly.

"Hey! That dude nearly tore my arm off!" Devon yelled back at her, moving his snapped forearm a bit too much and leaving him groaning. He pouted as he resigned to sitting back in the chair. "And while we're on the subject of drugs, what was that guy taking, anyway? Some serious shit if he could throw you ten feet." When there was no answer, he stared at Faith for a long time, finally getting a chance to study her up close and personal. He was enjoying the view when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the skin under the various tears in her shirt. "You don't have a scratch on you, do you?" he asked in shock.

"I'll live," she responded dully, turning down another road.

There was a moment of awkwardness as Devon began to get seriously freaked out. "Ok, what the fuck is going on around here?" he hollered.

"You really wanna know?" she challenged him with a glare, "Fine. Vampires, werewolves, demons, all those things that you were ever told as a kid were just nightmares ... are real."

At her words, silence enveloped the van. Devon paused for a moment, leaning back into his seat again as he quietly stared at the ground as he let it process.

"You heard me, buddy," she continued, already on a roll, "Your town is on a fucking Hellmouth. A breeding ground for these freaks for over a hundred years. And you guys are just a walking buffet for the majority of them."

Devon shifted to sit sideways, pointing vaguely at Faith as he looked her up and down. "And so you're like...some kind of superhero?"

"Vampire Slayer," she corrected, "It's my job to find the freaks that go bump in the night, and kick their ass." Faith was not really paying attention to the fact that she was revealing her whole life's secret to this boy. She was kind of focused on not crashing the van at the moment, which she hadn't entirely gotten the hang of yet. And besides, if this kid did as much drugs as he was letting on, what were the chances that anyone would believe him, anyway?

Faith glanced over at him for a moment, catching the blank expression. "I know it's probably hard to believe, but..."

"Actually, not so much," he answered abruptly, suddenly speaking rather normally. "It's a little trippy, sure, but...It actually explains a lot. Like last year, around prom? When this psycho killer got loose or whatever? The mayor had everyone on curfew for a couple weeks. And then, the guy just, like, disappeared."

The story sounded awfully familiar. "Well, technically, that wasn't me," Faith corrected him, "...but you get the general idea."

"Ah." Devon was letting this all sink in well enough, though the adolescent in him certainly took over as he reclined in the seat, lifted his hands up to rest behind his neck. "Well, can't say I don't have good taste."

His comment suddenly got Faith's attention. For a split second, she shot Devon a venomous glare. "You wanna get to the hospital or should I just leave you at the curb?" She glared, her foot pressing just a little harder on the gas to get them up to 20 miles per hour. This thing was a P.O.S.

* * *

Several minutes later, as the two arrived at the hospital, Faith brought the van to a screeching halt in front of the emergency room entrance.

"You're a maniac behind the wheel," Devon muttered, though that idiotic smirk was still plastered to his face.

"You good from here?" she asked, ignoring him as she craning her neck to look up through the windshield.

"I guess so," Devon shrugged, shifting in his seat as he unlocked his side of the door. "Thanks for the ride..."

The door suddenly slammed on the driver's side as he spun around just in time to catch a glimpse of Faith walking away from the car. "See you around school I guess!" He called out to her as he stepped out of the van and wobbled toward the entrance to the ER.

* * *

Anyanka and Halfrek, feared vengeance demons of the nether realm, were sitting at a small round table off in the corner of the Espresso Pump CafИ in downtown Sunnydale, enjoying pair of steaming aromatic mugs of coffee.

"Can you believe these children?" Anyanka groaned, watching a group of teenagers pass by the CafИ as her fingers traced the outline of her mug, "They have become so petty and self-absorbed, it's a wonder they're even capable of finding the attention span for exclusive partners. Though that doesn't usually stop them from engaging in mindlessly casual sexual exploits that invariably end in tears and heartbreak." She sounded fairly content at that revelation, taking a long sip of her espresso as Halfrek listened in.

"Can't complain about unhappily attached women, now can you, Anyanka? You've never been at a loss for them suppose." Halfrek lifted her own mug to her lips. "Though D'Hoffryn's been hard pressed to see any results with the Slayer," she commented quickly, taking a sip of her coffee and silencing herself.

"Don't go denying any fault for that," Anyanka accused, "You said that this was going to be a shoe-in! Child's play! I don't remember anyone mentioning a long term evaluation."

"Now, now; you know better than anyone to not be overconfident regarding clients..." Halfrek chided her, her expression suddenly growing puzzled. "...I said shoe-in? Really?"

Anyanka narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "Your exact words were 'The Slayer is practically begging for vengeance.' "

There was silence between them as Halfrek attempted to come up with a response. "You know what a high profile case this is, don't you?" she said softly, leaning in to keep their conversation more private. "I mean, even as a Slayer, this Faith's not like the typical run-of-the-mill scorned little girls you're used to."

Anyanka glared hard at her fellow vengeance demon, suddenly catching the undertone of her words. "You don't think I can get a wish out of her." She accused, leaning back on her stool indignantly.

"I'm not saying that at all!" Halfrek insisted, "I just think that there's no shame in admitting you're a little out of your league here." She chuckled softly, pawing at her mug.

"Out of my league?!" Anyanka failed miserably at keeping her voice down.

Halfrek lifted her hands to calm her down, reaching out to grab Anyanka's hand gently. "Maybe a poor choice of words, I'm sorry." She winced quietly. "But...really, Anyanka, a Slayer? Chances are you'd get yourself killed before getting a word out of her, much less a wish."

Anyanka's gaze was stone cold, her resolve only further strengthened by Halfrek's innocent teasing. "We'll see about that," she grumbled, taking a long gulp of her coffee.

* * *

To be continued, please Read and Review!


	4. Act III

**ACT III**

* * *

The following afternoon, Faith's history class was in full swing...meaning, of course, that she was bored out of her skull. The real trade off was that at least it was someone other than Wesley lecturing. She sat near the back of the class, glaring hard towards the front of the room as Mr. Nighman, the lanky blonde history teacher who leaned against his desk, droned on about the Middle Ages or something.

"...So many restrictions came out of the conquering hordes of this time period," the instructor explained, obviously much more enthused about his subject than his students were. "You know, the terms beef and pork came from when the Normans invaded England in about 1066. Peasants were forbidden from consuming certain animal meats, like cows and pigs, so alternate names were given to the food byproducts of these creatures. Chicken and other poultry still have the same names today, since they were the only ones they were allowed to eat..."

Devon was lounging in the desk behind Faith, trying to look as cool and nonchalant as he could with a cast up to his elbow. Fidgeting in his seat, he used his one good hand to push around the pen on his desk, not actually paying mind to anything that their teacher was saying.

He was more focused on the dark haired vixen in the seat in front of him. Yeah sure, he'd broken his arm last night when he was attacked by a bloodsucking demon from beyond the grave, but all in all, it wasn't a total loss. After all, he'd met up with this sexy as hell superhero chick. And she was totally jonesin' for him. Stretching with a forced yawn, Devon tucked his feet under the girl's desk, purposely bumping it forward.

Faith felt her desk lurch forward, and she glanced over her shoulder, only to see Devon leering back at her with a wink. Turning back around, her eyes iced over. She hadn't even noticed he was back there, but now, all she could do was feel his eyes on her. _Jackass_, she mentally groaned.

"Hey," he muttered softly at the back of Faith's head. She didn't dignify the idiot with a response. "Hey!" he whispered louder at her, kicking her desk a bit more.

"What?!" She snapped back around at him in a hoarse whisper.

Devon only grinned wider. "You going out again tonight?"

"What?"

"You know..." he glanced around, only making his 'secret' more obvious to anyone. "Killin' vampires."

"Shut up," Faith rolled her eyes, spinning back around to pretend to pay attention.

"Oh come on. We're the perfect team. I drive, you kill things." His eyes gleamed with nostalgia. "I watch you kill things... or is it 'slay'?"

"Forget it."

"Can't we at least talk about it..."

"There's nothing to talk about," she shushed him, pushing back in her desk to knock his feet from the grate underneath, glaring back at him again. "You know _nothing_, and even if you did, you're still not going!"

"_Faith_."

Her head jolted up at the sound her name. Mr. Nighman was watching their little conversation with interest.

"Yeah?" she asked, the sharpness in her tone smoothed by her complete embarrassment at getting called out.

"Where were the Normans from, again?"

There was a long silence as she stared blankly at Mr. Nighman, souring her brain for a response. Faith opened her mouth, but as no words escaped, all she could do was shrug and look a little apologetic about it. Nighman took a deep breath, shooting the girl the same disappointed expression that every authority figure in her life had given her at one point or another.

She broke eye contact with the older man as the bell suddenly shrieked through the classroom, the students dashing from their seats and into the hallway. Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, Faith stepped down the desk aisle and made her way over to the door too, only to be trailed by Devon like a little puppy. A little, horny, irritating puppy.

He threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close as they stepped out the door. "So, what about tonight?" he whispered to her, a little too close for comfort.

"Get the fuck away from me," she snapped, shoving his cast with enough force to leave him whimpering in her dust.

"Faith can I speak with you a moment?" Mr. Nighman's voice halted her several feet away from the doorway. She glanced towards the hallway regretfully, when she turned and saw that he wasn't looking entirely pleased with her right now.

"Uh, yeah..." she nodded hesitantly, making her way slowly back towards the door.

* * *

The hallways had filled with students wandering towards their next class as Faith stood at the doorway, battling with the urge to simply walk away as her teacher lectured her. "Faith, I really think you need to focus a bit more on your studies and less on boys," he insisted gently, his mild irritation at the girl was veiled by concern.

She suddenly glared up at him stubbornly. "But I wasn't..."

He raised a hand to silence her. "I don't need excuses, Faith."

Gritting her teeth, she met eyes with the older man quietly. This was ridiculous. Faith got enough of this from Wesley all day and night. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

Mr. Nighman's expression softened as he tried to look as sympathetic as possible. "You need to understand how important your classes are, and I know you've probably heard this before, but at least try, please?"

Faith had blocked him out about half way through his little speech as a bit of a slow commotion began down the hallway. Curious, she glanced over Nighman's shoulder, noticing a group of students gathering a few doors down.

"Faith?" Nighman's voice broke her attention, and she glanced back at the teacher. "Do you understand?"

"Uh..." her eyes wandered back to the scene going on behind the man's back. Her feet began to follow a few steps. "...sure thing, Mr. Nighman; no boys," she trotted off, whipping around to point two energetic fingers at him. The uproar was getting louder, and she looked out with concern as a school nurse rushed in and Principal Snyder ran up behind her, pushing students out of the way.

"Move!" The small man bellowed at the teens surrounding whatever was going on. Ignoring the principal's demands, Faith squirmed her way between people as the throng of students thickened around her. Screaming could be heard through the crowd as some caught a glimpse of the gurgling body of a young man.

Faith heard the kids talking before she arrived at the center of the fuss. "Denny Westin swallowed his own tongue!" A tall basketball player shouted to his friend. "Chewed it right off!" She quickened her pace, peering over the last few kids as a pair of boys opposite her were shoved out of the way by the overbearing Snyder. The principal pushed through the children to arrive on the scene, immediately regretting the decision.

Doubled over and writhing on the floor in agony was the young man, Denny, hand cupped over his mouth as thick blood poured out between his fingers. With gurgling moans, he tried to talk as the school nurse, obviously not prepared for this kind of situation, dangled a few white towels at his face.

As Denny began to convulse from shock, Faith watched silently from the crowd, the sight of all the blood not getting to her as much as the sudden, disturbing way that this had all just happened. She caught the sound of crying over the din of the kids, who were all now getting pushed away from the school police officer. She spun to see a nervous wreck of a girl being herded away from the crowd by a handful of friends.

"Shh... it's ok, Stacy."

"But...but where's Denny?" she sputtered out between choked sobs, tugging at her friends to return to her boyfriend's side. The girls all leaped to block her, pushing her back from the scene. But it only took one glimpse of the writhing, bleeding form to send her over the edge.

"Oh God," she wept loudly, "It's...it's all my fault!" The others tried to console her with quiet voices, but Stacy only became more incensed. "I, I was just mad! If I hadn't said all those things about him...But she got me all worked up! She was just here. That girl..."

Faith caught the last bit as Stacy began frantically searching over the crowd for someone. Her friends merely ushered her away soon after, and as they disappeared from Faith's view, she tried to follow the girl's gaze. Peeking through the crowd she found the person Stacy must have meant: trying her best not to be noticed, yet smirking with satisfaction, was the girl Anya.

The Slayer watched her like a hawk as the girl slipped back out of the crowd. Tensely pushing backwards through her patch in the group of students, Faith inched her way down the hall after her target. The hallways were emptied, everyone having hurried to see the bloodied teenager. Several yards behind Anya, she weaved between bodies, many of them coming up with outlandish stories about Denny's condition. Funny how fast things traveled around here. Anya didn't seem to notice that she was being followed down the hall, so Faith trailed her silently, keep several yards away to not raise suspicion.

Though it was awfully convenient that Anya was heading towards the library. Faith didn't notice the girl's direction till they were right on top of the doorway, though. Taking the opportunity and running with it, Faith shuffled a bit faster, her stride bringing her right beside the girl. Grabbing her arm with a grip before Anya could even notice her standing there, Faith herded her suspect roughly into the library's double swinging doors.

* * *

"Ow!" Anya struggled against Faith's death-grip. The Slayer compliantly released her, letting her spin out in the middle of the room. Regaining her balance, Anya whipped around to glare at her. "What the hell?" She snapped, rubbing at her arm.

"What did you do to him?" Faith growled out.

Anya's face was visibly less concerned about Denny than her bruised arm. "Who?"

"That kid. You know, the one bleeding to death out in the hall?"

The girl scoffed at Faith, a bit of a chuckle hidden on her lips. "Oh, he's not gonna bleed to death," Anya waved off with a shrug, "...A little trouble pronouncing his L's from now on, sure, but..."

"What did you do?" Faith demanded again, stalking up towards Anya menacingly. She was not in the mood to play games.

"Ok...doesn't seem like anything gets by you." Anya chuckled, her hands raised defensively. Faith remained silent, her irritated gaze proving that she didn't enjoy being patronized. Anya nodded in understanding.

"I typically have a lot of patience," she began with a kind of anxiousness evident in her tone. "Especially in terms of assignments. You know; the whole 'quality before quantity' thing...but I'm a little under the clock as it were." Anya took a spot leaning against the table, mere feet from Faith's spot in front of the target. "...So I'm going to level with you."

Faith quirked a brow at her, more than a little confused by all this.

Placing her hands in front of her, Anya folded them intently. "I have to assume that considering your expertise, this shouldn't be a huge shocker for you..." That caught her off guard. Faith shifted on her heels awkwardly, watching Anya with caution. "...I'm a demon."

Faith was silent for a split second as she stared hard at Anya. When the gravity of what she'd just said really hit her, Faith's eyes narrowed to slits. "Really."

"Vengeance demon, to be exact," the woman continued, gliding her hand along the table as she circled it. "Specializing in granting the wishes of women scorned by the weaker sex."

Faith stared at her for a long silent moment, drawing a blank from the reference.

"...men." Anya finished plainly, stopping at another corner and resting the palms of her hands on it.

"So you put made Denny swallow his tongue because..."

"She asked me to."

"She _asked_?" Faith glanced behind her, beginning to get the wiggins from the whole damn student body.

"More or less..." At that, Faith took a step closer, but Anya retreated a few steps back again. "Ok, so I embellished a bit," she shrugged. "It's what I do. Keeps things interesting."

Faith glared hard at the girl, crossing her arms over each other. "You're insane."

"Doesn't change the fact that I can still help you."

A smirk quirked on the Slayer's lips. "How exactly would you help me?"

"One wish, that's all it takes."

Faith's smile faded in uncertainty. "A wish..."

"...and you can exact revenge on the person of your choice." Confidently, Anya adjusted her stance against the table, leaning forward to meet Faith's gaze. "For the record, though, I've been known to be especially effective with old boyfriends, husbands...fathers..." Her voice faded pointedly.

There was a rigid silence between the two as Faith stared the girl down. "I think you should go."

Anya pushed off the table's edge, both her resolve and irritation growing. "Oh come off it, Faith. You've been used, objectified, or abandoned by every man who's ever been part of your life. It's not hard to tell."

"Get out," Faith ordered sharply, no longer amused.

"You can't say that you've never prayed for a day to come when you could let every man who's ever hurt you reap what they've sown. Well, here's your golden opportunity."

There was no immediate answer, and Anya could easily read the thoughts of the young Slayer. Faith obviously wasn't enjoying the fact that she could be read so easily. And more importantly, the deal seemed to be making an impression on the dark-haired girl. Anya stalked closer to her potential client. "I have to admit, this has been the first time I've ever been so blunt with a client before, but I underestimated you. You're a lot more together than most girls would be in your position. Any lesser person would have loaded all their issues onto me eagerly. But you wouldn't so much as _imagine _a wish..."

"You think I would just wish to hurt somebody?" Faith accused harshly, not liking the implication that she was making.

Anya shrugged indifferently. "Vengeance can be a very effective motivator."

Faith nodded silently in understanding as she took a step closer. "How's this for motivation?" She grabbed the girl by the upper arms, shoving her against the wall with a loud thud. She pressed hard, putting enough pressure behind her to hold Anya still in place. "Get the hell out," she growled, fighting the urge to do her real job and rid the world of one less demon.

Without warning, Anya pushed back, with considerably more force than Faith was expecting, and sent a blindingly fast swing right into the Slayer's face. Faith stumbled back, shaking her head to regain her senses, as the demon threw another punch her way. This one Faith was able to just barely duck away from, backing away to get some distance between herself and the now dangerous young woman.

The library was a small room to begin with, but now with the threat of a fight on her hands, Faith found it just a bit too cozy for her taste. With a sharp exhale, and a hint of a smile, she took a tentative step forward, hands raised in defense. All the while, Anya simply stood there, a smug gleam in her eye, almost bating Faith to come at her.

In response, the Slayer rushed at her, sending a sharp blow at Anya's face. The demon took the hit, falling slightly backward at the force of the punch. But she was soon back up on her feet, landing another strike, this time into Faith's stomach.

The dark-haired woman stumbled backwards as Anya reached down to grab the back of a chair. By the time Faith found her footing once more, the chair was sent crashing into her back, knocking her onto the floor stomach first. She crumpled to the cold tile of the library floor, lifting her hand up instinctively to block a second blow, only to be pulled up by the shirt collar.

"Play nice," Anya grunted at her, throwing her back against the wall beside Wesley's office.

Faith hit the doorway hard, sliding to her knees once more. She threw a venomous glare at the demon, hauling herself to her feet and marching towards her. Anya's smile thinned, and she looked back at the heavy wooden table behind her, grabbing a side of it with her bare hands and, with little difficulty, lifting it into the air. Before Faith could react, the table was thrown at her with excessive force, crashing against the wall with a loud thud, trapping the young Slayer underneath it.

There was a stillness in the room as Faith glared wearily from the floor, clinging to the shards of wood as she tried to get to her feet, only to stumble back onto the cold, unforgiving ground.

"You'll come around," Anya huffed quietly, straightening out her shirt as she brushed herself off. She shot a quiet smirk down at Faith, writing beneath the demolished table. "Just give yourself a little time to consider my offer."

Faith glared hard as she wrapped her hands around the table's legs, which were painfully trapping her on the floor. With a silent wrath, the Slayer promised with her eyes to hunt Anya down and tear her throat out. The redhead caught the sentiment, and smiled in return. "Have a nice day."

In a flash of smoke, the girl was gone, just as Wesley suddenly came barreling into the library, his eyes darting around in a panic. His gaze stopped at Faith, who was now busy shoving the bulky wooden table off of herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked, taking in the scene. The man hurried to his Slayer's aid, timidly reaching for the table. "Do you need some help..."

With unexpected power, Faith got a grip on the tabletop with her boots, kicking the table across the room and sliding it into the bookshelves beside its original resting place. She stormed past Wesley with a silent but deadly glare, wiping the thin stream of blood from her busted lip.

* * *

A few moments later, Faith was sitting impatiently at the _other _table in the library, her hand rubbing unconsciously against the bruises slowly healing on her face.

"Chick was wicked strong, Wes."

Wesley stood beside the table pacing as he leafed through an old leather text in his hands. "And you said that you share classes with this girl?" he asked, not looking up.

"Wouldn't really call her a 'girl', what with the whole disappearing act." The Slayer glared at him, "And she made a kid bite his tongue off!"

"Come now, Faith, she could have just as easily been lying to you just to brag."

"Hell of a thing to brag about. How do I kill her?"

"Don't be too hasty," Wesley chided her, apparently not that worried about that incident. "You don't know if she's actually a threat here or not. After all, a little magicks here or there could easily have done what you..."

"And you seem to be missing the fact that she scrubbed down the library floor with my _face_!"

The Watcher glanced up from his book. "We have slightly more pressing matters than your ego."

"_Bite me_," she growled back at him, tenderly pressing at her face with the tips of her fingers.

Wesley studied the girl, once more appalled by her vocabulary. "Yes. Well." It took him a moment to continue, but soon he was stepping toward the table, the book gripped tightly in his hands. "I'll investigate your mysterious girl when I get the chance. In the _mean time_, I've been investigating recent demonic phenomena occurring around the city, and it would seem that we have a bit of a crisis on our hands. One that requires your immediate attention."

"Gee, Wes, it sure seems like you have a good handle on things here in the 'Dale," she muttered, only to have the text slammed down on the table in front of her. She jumped slightly in her seat.

"The Clan of Asmiroth," he announced flatly.

Faith leaned forward, craning her neck to study the disturbingly detailed illustration on the open page. Three massive creatures, covered in scars and deformities, stood in a group together, donned in ancient looking armor and weaponry. Their faces were brutally mutilated, sores and open wounds peppering their scowls. She studied the drawing with an intrigued smirk. "Ooo, nasty."

Wesley nodded quietly, moving away from the table as he folded his hands behind himself. "His followers are a group of demonic headhunters, sent scouring the globe by their overlord to collect..."

"Heads?" She chimed in with an artificial grin aimed at him.

He narrowed his eyes, unamused. "...a select number of artifacts that they apparently deem sacred to their order," he finished, making his way over to the front desk, leaning over it for a moment.

"Ok, so I hunt these guys down and slay 'em before they finish they're little scavenger hunt?"

"Actually, you won't have to track them at all. I've been able to locate their next target with little trouble."

"Finally doin' your homework, I see," She congratulated the man with a nod, watching him pace around with typical stiffness. Silently, she was thankful that this guy knew his stuff. Though more to the point, she was glad that she wouldn't have to do any of the research for this run. "So, what is it?"

"The Maserian Shard," he responded, intently studying the new book cradled in his hands.

Faith stared blankly at him, hands on her lap. Wesley seemed to anticipate her confusion, pushing another open book over to her from across the table without looking up. This one didn't have any pictures, so Faith decided to ignore it.

"The Shard is actually the hilt of a sword once belonging to a mage of the dark arts," The Watcher explained matter-of-factly, "It is said to bestow its owner with great power, but was broken centuries ago. I'm not specific on the details."

"No stress." The girl nodded, fidgeting in her seat as she caught a glimpse of the sun setting in the windows high above the library floor. It was almost magic hour. There was still the issue of Anya to discuss – God only knew what that girl was really capable of if she'd been able to get the better of a Slayer – but at this point, Faith was more than up for some baddies that she knew she could handle.

* * *

If she could find the fuckers.

Not even an hour after leaving the library, Faith was pacing rows of tombstones, the night thickening. Her patience, on the other hand, was not. The cemetery that Wesley had sent her to was all but completely deserted, but the Watcher had assured her that these Clan guys would be showing up for their all-powerful artifact at some point. So, begrudgingly, she wandered the lawn, glancing around every so often, sensing the vampires that were skirting the edge of the area in an effort to avoid her. There'd be time to deal with them later, she reassured herself; right now she needed to get this goddamn 'assignment' done.

Taking a short cut through a grouping of bushes, Faith's attention was drawn to the sound of rustling bodies in front of her. Poking through the foliage and out to the next open clearing of gravestones, the Slayer found herself several yards away from a trio of large forms, crowded together around the wall of a masoleum.

"Hey, ho, the gang's all here," Faith called out confidently as she moved towards the three, now visible as carbon copies of the gruesome illustrations that Wesley had shown her earlier. At the sound of her voice, the three spun around with dark and bellowing snarls. Large and green-skinned, the demons were decked out in rusted, ancient-looking armor.

Faith whistled to herself, not at all fazed by the angry and more than hungry expressions that she was getting from the massive creatures. "Wow, check the hardware. You guys are packin'."

The largest, obviously the leader of the trio, turned to face her, its claws wrapped around a massive battle axe. "Nice toy," she admired, "Mind if I take a look?" It glared back in response, growling a command at its companions. Faith grinned, taking a defensive stance as she readied herself for their attack. As she pulled out a rather large dagger from beneath her jacket, a few more growls shuddered through the darkness behind her.

Faith dove out of the way of a fourth creature emerging from the shadows, rolling back to her feet. The demon roared in protest, spinning back around to face her, as its cohorts charged into action. With a glint of enjoyment in her eyes, Faith urged them towards her with a curl of her hand. In a rage, a pair of the demons hurtled towards her, wiping the smirk from her face as she realized just how much bulk was coming at her.

As one drew back a claw to swing at her, Faith managed to sneak in a right cross, hitting it directly in the gut and sending it spinning off to the side. The Slayer ducked down, slipping underneath the second demon clawing for her, flipping it over her shoulder and onto the ground.

_He studied her once again from the shadows with great interest. These combatants seemed far more powerful and numerous than any she had faced before. Five total, but a few had caught her by surprise. He had smelled them a mile off, been aware of their movements long before the girl had. She lacked the proper training to utilize her abilities fully, but not the potential. She could be a dangerous adversary, given time_...

"Step up boys!" Faith growled out at them, waving her hands in the air in challenge. "That all you got?" She pounded another demon in the face as it neared her, only to be knocked down along with it. The creature's body smothered her into the ground, and she heard a distinct snap within her chest as the unbelievable weight pressed her ribs to the point of breaking.

Faith groaned at the strain on her body, but she finally managed to find some leverage, rolling over on the beast and stumbling to her feet. She glared at the creature as it stood once more, scratching at her, and she leapt into the air, sending a roundhouse kick to its face. The demon was thrown to the ground, knocking it right into one of the smaller gravestones and cracking it from the impact.

Another came swinging down at her head, and Faith jumped back from the blow with a pained wince, the demon's blade striking the soil. Snatching the chance, she ground her boot onto the demon's sword, trapping it against the ground, and kicked its owner in the face with the alternate foot.

The pain in her chest was growing, slowing her down and dulling her reflexes. Her concentration broken, she struggled to shove back at one or two choice hits that connected. With her vision knocked out of whack, Faith was greeted with a heavy fist to the face. The blow sent her tumbling to the ground, barely conscious.

Two of the creatures snatched her arms, roughly hauling Faith to her feet. She struggled against them, only to be thrown up against the wall of a mausoleum. The force of the blow stunned her for a moment, and the demons were able to pin her up against the wall with little difficulty.

Shaking her mind back into clarity, Faith found herself being braced against the stone for the aim of the leader, a significantly heavier armed creature than the others. With a gnarled scar running across its face, the demon stood at the ready, its blade held low by its side. Her blood froze as she watched the creature lunge at her, lurching back his weapon, ready to bury the point of the blade deep into her chest. The sword sailed forward, mere inches from her pinned body...

As a figure suddenly leapt out of the shadows, slamming into the attacking demon with a fierce battle cry. The demonic assailants scattered, caught unaware, dropping Faith in their panic. Not really caring where the distraction came from, she threw a punch at one of the horned creatures' faces, knocking it to the ground as she cast a glance for her next target.

Standing at about the same height as the towering demon, her rescuer, a man, long dark flowing hair, dressed in armor and a fur-skin tunic, grappled valiantly with the sword-wielding demon. His eyes were lit with the fire of battle, a wide grin on his features as he roared his power at the creature he battled.

Faith ducked at a swing at her face, kneeing the creature in its gut. Out beyond her peripheral vision, she heard the sounds of an equally bracing fight, the clang of sword blades. But she was a little busy at the moment with her own problems, specifically the constant attack from all sides.

_With a roll to his left, he reached behind his belt beneath his leather tunic and pulled out a small sharpened axe. He reached back, hurling the weapon at the demon, its blade striking true and burying itself deep into the unarmored hide of the hell-beast's back. _

It howled in agony, collapsing to the ground in front of Faith. Ripping the handle from the bulking corpse, she smiled. She really loved free upgrades.

_The warrior swung his mighty hilt, clashing swords with the lead demon. Parries and blows were exchanged, sending the two deeper into the clearing beside the mausoleum. The demon lifted a claw as the man repositioned his sword for another swing, bringing it hard down on his shoulder.  
_  
_He stumbled away from the blow, steadying himself with his blade drawn high. He lunged once more, taking up another barrage of dueling. Pressing up against a thick tombstone, the man pinned the creature's sword down on the stone with his own weapon. Trapping their blades together against the grave, he punched the demon's face down violently and knocked it to the ground. Given precious seconds of time, he lifted his sword high above his head, thrusting the point down hard on the creature, and piercing its heart and lungs. _

The man's appearance was unexpected, but Faith wasn't in a position to care where help came from. Grabbing the wrist of the demon that swung at her, she twisted it backward, snapping its arm near in half. With the leverage she gained, Faith flipped her attacker onto its back. Glancing over at the stranger, she watched him pull his bloodied sword from the corpse of his opponent, and her own fight-lust suddenly ignited. She lifted her axe high, severing the creature's head from its shoulders in two blows.

The sounds of tearing and growling caught her attention, and she spun to face a large mausoleum several yards away. Faith groaned to herself as she realized that two more creatures remained, tearing at the inner entrance to the stone structure. Sprinting towards them with a fury, Faith leapt onto the back of one of the closest of them. She wrapped her legs around its waist, hooking the handle of her axe around its neck in a choke hold. The demon reared its head back from digging as it snarled and clawed at its back to tear the Slayer off its body as its partner continued to dig.

Realizing that it wasn't doing much to slow it up, Faith drug the axe deeply across the demon's neck, slitting open a gash across its jugular, a torrent of black blood splattering across her face and shirt. She leapt off of the creatures as it collapsed into the mausoleum wall. Kneeling for a moment to spit out the acidic black goop onto the grass, she ducked suddenly as the other demon sailed over her head, a half snapped sword blade gripped in its claws. "Mother fucker!" She scrambled to her feet, only to have another demon snatch her from behind, dragging her to the ground.

_He saw her attempt to stop the demons, but as the demon sped off, some sort of weapon in hand, he could see the girl panic. Realizing the blade was of some importance, he darted after the creature, diving onto it to impede its escape. The two tumbled to the grass, rolling away from each other as the impact sent them hurtling into a row of ornate graves. Lunging his body once more onto the demon, they scuffled for dominance, but finally he was thrown from the creature's back as it scrambled to its feet, continuing its sprint away from the fight, its prize in hand.  
_

Severing an arm, and later imbedding the blade of her axe into the chest of her own demon, Faith spun around just in time to see the one that mattered darting towards the tree line. In a panic, she lugged up her hand axe, hurling it towards the fleeing creature. The blade struck a tree trunk just as her target disappeared behind the shadowed trees. Before she could really react to losing her quarry, Faith heard growling from behind her, as the demon she'd thought she'd just taken down rose to his feet, sword at the ready. Infuriated, she leapt to the side as it swung at her, snatching its arm and tugging it low, snapping the arm out of its socket. Its claw loosened, and she took the blade from its owner, bringing the hilt around and running it through the monster's gut. Pushing harder, it slid through to the other side, and she began shoving the demon backwards, towards the closest tree a few yards off. Plunging the tip of the blade deeper into the demon's body, she finally felt the rough tree bark, and she gave a final, forceful jab, trapping the blade several inches against the tree, and leaving the demon propped there.

_He studied the girl's technique, impressed as she trapped the hell beast against the tree trunk with the thrust of its own weapon. A moment of stillness enveloped the graveyard, only the two warriors' heavy breathing audible in the darkness. After a time, the girl stared at him with much interest, and the stranger watched as she began marching towards him determinedly. In an effort to ready himself for proper introductions, he straightened his tunic out to appear presentable, despite the sweat and blood speckling his clothes and body. He opened his mouth to speak as she neared_...

Faith's hands reached out, pressing against with his chest as she shoved him. Hard. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She growled, stepping towards him with hostility.

The man was taken aback, lifting his hands defensively as she glared venom at him. "I was rescuing you from the clutches of that monstrous demon," he stuttered, confused by her reaction, "...I..."

"You were butting into my patrol!"

He backed off, a bit over his head despite being a good couple heads taller than his aggressor. "I am sorry, I misunderstood. You seemed to be in need of assistance."

"Do I look like I need any help from you?" she huffed, straightening her blood soaked hair as she glowered at the newcomer.

"Most certainly not," he shook his head eagerly, "The battles in which I have witnessed you have only ended in your complete victory. I have never before witnessed such a mighty warrior. I had not expected to find a worthy combatant in a woman, though."

She chose to ignore that last bit, and exhaled a bit of fury out. "Who the hell are you?" She scraped more goop off her fingers and onto a tombstone beside her.

"I am Groosalugg The Brave. Undefeated Champion of Pylea."

She stared at him for a moment, blankly. "Of course you are." Turning around, she sauntered over to the near tree she'd pinned the last demon on, tugging at the sword from its home lodged in the deceased monster's chest and the trunk behind it. "Listen," she grunted, prying it loose with a final tug, and heading on her way into the woods. "I'm just gonna walk away from this, chock it up to a few too many blows to the head and hopefully never see you again, so..."

"But I must assist you in your battle against the forces of evil!" The Groosalugg craned his head as he watched her leave.

"Really," she spun around, "_Must _you?"

"Well, yes. As a fellow Champion..."

She cut him off with a scoff, turning her back to him as she left. "I'm nobody's Champion. Just doing my job."

"You must understand the concept of strength in numbers..."

"Listen, I'm the _Slayer_. The Chosen One. Emphasis on _One_! I don't need a sidekick, alright, buddy?"

"I can help you!" He called over the distance between them.

Passing the tree her quarry had darted behind, Faith ripped the small axe from the tree with her free hand. "Are you deaf? I told you I don't need any help."

"But you are going the wrong way."

She froze in place, narrowing her eyes as she gazed out into the woods. The Groosalugg didn't see her expression, and reached out his hand in another direction.

"The last creature fled in that direction," he pointed a few dozen degrees to Faith's left. Still in the woods, but definitely not where she'd been heading. "His pace in fleeing you and the stride of the footprints implies that he will be a full half pace slower than yours." Stepping up behind her, he let his arm extend over her shoulder a little to close for her not to notice that his muscles were...well, _rippling _would be a bit cliche, but... "You can still catch him."

Her thoughts interrupted for a moment, Faith stared at him, unsure if she should be pissed or impressed.

"May I now assist you?"

"Fine." She pointed into the distance with the sword hilt in her hand. "You first..."

* * *

Please Read and Review! More Coming!


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